The Lord's Prayer
Matthew 6:9-13 ESV Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be your name, your kingdom come,
Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
As we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught his disciples how to pray. He gave them a model prayer. In my meditations the line "Give us today our daily bread" stood out. I realized it was the only part of the prayer directly asking the Lord for provision.
Biblical Bread
The Genesis Curse
Genesis 3:19 ESV By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
The first mention of bread in the Bible is found in the book of Genesis. This declaration is clearly a curse when contrasted with the abundance both Adam and Eve enjoyed in the Garden of Eden. Their sin led them to be expelled from the garden and to work for their food.
The Manna in the Desert
In Exodus 16, we see a new form of bread being provided to the Israelites in response to their hunger and grumbling in the desert. Despite the curse of Genesis, God offered provision to His people. The manna was a grace and a gift from God. In a situation where no matter where they looked food was scarce; in a situation where they did not turn to Him for help but decided to grumble, God still provided.
This blessing, however, came with a condition. The manna was to be collected daily, and only enough for that day. If they tried to store some for the next day, it would rot and be infested with worms. Why?
God knew that if they received a surplus, they would not continued their walk to the Promised Land and would have settled in the desert. How do we know this? The warning found in Deutoronomy comes to pass.
Deutoronomy 8:11-14 ESV Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery
We continually see the Israelites turn away from God and worship false idols in periods of abundance later on in books like Judges and Kings. A vicious cycle of sin, punishment, repentance, and forgiveness ensues. And so, we understand that manna was given to serve a purpose, to keep them on the path God laid out for them. This path as we know led them to the Promised Land.
How does this apply to us?
Our Promised Land is the Kingdom of God. We are in the same position as the Israelites, wandering in the desert of this world. We are in need of daily bread to sustain us on our journey. Now, everything the Lord gives us serves a purpose. We cannot then, expect Him to give us more than we can handle. If a blessing will lead us to fall into sin it is better for it to rot like the stored manna. He would rather see us live a life of scarcity and reach His Kingdom than live in material abundance and be damned. At times when you feel like your prayers are not being answered, ask yourself these questions:
Are you putting God first in your life?
Are you seeking His Kingdom first?
If you got married would He still be your priority?
If you got that promotion would you still devote time for Him?
If you won the lottery would He be above the pleasures of the World?
Seek God first, He is the bread of life (John 6:35). Everything else will be added unto you. That is why Jesus taught us to pray for our daily bread and nothing more.
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with us all. Amen.